Our name, our story...

The Lake of Paola is connected to the sea by two channels. One excavated in the North, called "Caterattino", of low importance and size, and one of the Augustan age on the South, just below Mount Circeo. On the Roman channel, about nine hundred meter long, there were two water gates: the first protecting the mouth of the channel close to the sea, while the second, called “the Red Bridge”, located more internally, before the bifurcation of the channels which then flow into the Lake. The two gates have different functions. The outer has a duty to protect the channel from the force of winter storms, also preventing the entry of the masses of sea grass in the lake.

The Red Bridge, however, is primarily used to manage the flow of water, also forming a recall for juvenile fish (i.e. fish babies are drawn from the fresh water to grow in the lake). The basin is brackish and fresh water is needed to keep his delicate ecosystem in balance. Along with groundwater sources, the winter rains are of great importance in this process. However, fresh water falling from the sky needs time to mingle with that of the basin, lowering the rate of salinity. The Red Bridge does just that. Its gates prevent fresh water from flowing into the sea during the winter months, managing the flow of the tides and representing a key benefit for the survival of the lake environment.

The presence of these two gates has hampered, not a little, speculative interests that in the last fifty years have seen the possibility of turning the Lake of Paola in a seaport area, in violation of environmental constraints. For this reason, in May 2003, the outer gate was illegally pulled down in order to permit the transit of boats in the Roman channel. In 2007, a group of interest also attempted to demolish the Red Bridge. The tough resistance of the owners, also supported by the direct intervention of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture, has prevented the destruction of the bridge. With the final decree of September 14, 2010, the Ministry established an insurmountable constraint, recognizing the historical and artistic value of the Red Bridge.

The commitment to preserve the Red Bridge from people who wanted to demolish it, then, goes beyond the circumstances, representing the struggle conducted in recent years to protect the entire protected area and the environmental balances of the Circeo National Park.